I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2823 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to deem certain service in the 

organized military forces of the Government of the Commonwealth of 

the Philippines and the Philippine Scouts to have been active service 

for purposes of benefits under programs administered by the Secretary 

of Veterans Affairs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 17, 2019 

Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. CASE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. CORREA, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. GREEN of Texas, 

Mr. KHANNA, Ms. LEE of California, Mrs. LEE of Nevada, Mr. TED

LIEU of California, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. 

SCHIFF, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. 

SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Mr. GOMEZ) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to deem certain 

service in the organized military forces of the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and the 

Philippine Scouts to have been active service for purposes 

of benefits under programs administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Filipino Veterans Fair3 ness Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. CERTAIN SERVICE IN THE ORGANIZED MILITARY 

5 FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES AND THE PHIL6 IPPINE SCOUTS DEEMED TO BE ACTIVE 

7 SERVICE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 107 of title 38, United 

9 States Code, is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a)— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘not’’ after ‘‘Army of the 

12 United States, shall’’; and 

13 (B) by striking ‘‘, except benefits under— 

14 ’’ and all that follows in that subsection and in15 serting a period; 

16 (2) in subsection (b)— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘not’’ after ‘‘Armed Forces 

18 Voluntary Recruitment Act of 1945 shall’’; and 

19 (B) by striking ‘‘except—’’ and all that fol20 lows in that subsection and inserting a period; 

21 (3) by amending subsection (c) to read as fol22 lows: 

23 ‘‘(c) DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—(1) In de24 termining the eligibility of the service of an individual 

25 under this section, the Secretary shall take into account 

26 any alternative documentation regarding such service, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2823.IH H2823

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1 cluding documentation other than the Missouri List, that 

2 the Secretary determines relevant. 

3 ‘‘(2) Not later than March 1 of each year, the Sec4 retary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs 

5 of the Senate and House of Representatives a report that 

6 includes— 

7 ‘‘(A) the number of individuals applying for 

8 benefits pursuant to this section during the previous 

9 year; and 

10 ‘‘(B) the number of such individuals that the 

11 Secretary approved for benefits.’’; and 

12 (4) by amending subsection (d) to read as fol13 lows: 

14 ‘‘(d) RELATION TO FILIPINO VETERANS EQUITY

15 COMPENSATION FUND.—Section 1002(h) of the American 

16 Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (title X of divi17 sion A of Public Law 111–5; 123 Stat. 200; 38 U.S.C. 

18 107 note) shall not apply to an individual described in sub19 section (a) or (b) of this section.’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(1) The heading 

21 of such section is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘§ 107. Certain service deemed to be active service: 

2 service in organized military forces of the 

3 Philippines and in the Philippine 

4 Scouts’’. 

5 (2) The item relating to such section in the table of 

6 sections at the beginning of chapter 1 of such title is 

7 amended to read as follows: 

‘‘107. Certain service deemed to be active service: service in organized military 

forces of the Philippines and in the Philippine Scouts.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by this 

10 Act shall take effect on the date that is 90 days after the 

11 date of the enactment of this Act. 

12 (b) APPLICABILITY.—No benefits shall accrue to any 

13 person for any period before the effective date of this Act 

14 by reason of the amendments made by this Act. 

Æ 


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